NERVO

R3HAB

MATTN

Martin Garrix

It’s a match made in heaven where unknown DJs and producers are able to share their tracks, remixes and sets across social media, forums, and blogs. This exposure can often lead to paid gigs which have the potential to catapult obscure producers into international super-stardom. Though electronic music has grown popular, its roots still remain deeply entrenched in underground culture.

The Economics of Electronic Dance Music Festivals.

The rising popularity of electronic music has led to it transforming seemingly overnight from a fringe genre generally associated with LSD, ecstasy, abandoned warehouse parties, and homosexuality, to over the top spectaculars brimming with sensory overload of every kind.

In the process, week long festivals like Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival and Coachella have become household mega-brands. Their economic viability is very real; just one weekend can generate hundreds of millions of dollars for local economies and promoters. Although some events and promoters have close to 20 years of experience, the real acceleration only occurred in the last half decade.

What is even more peculiar is that electronic dance music is nothing new. What we commonly identify as EDM has been around for nearly 45 years, yet it has only recently been acknowledged as the way forward for the struggling music industry.